Hello, I just joined this Forum. I've been collecting Battle Beasts, among other figures and toys since the 80's. Somehow, I only just recently discovered that there was a Laser Beast Line of figures.

Before I start buying Laser Beasts, I just wanted to ask, if there are Reproduction Laser Beast figures out there? Or just their weapons and shields? I don't mind Repro weapons, but I'm not a fan of buying Repro figures.

There are lots of customs but they are very hard to make the marble in their chest real looking so you will know a fake when you see one. Lately the Battle Beast K.O.'s are everywhere but no one can do the paint application authentic so you should be ok as long a your not buying monocolor figures like Greek Battle Beasts. Good luck collecting!!

There's a small handful of people who have made reproduction laser beasts. (That I know of, anyways.) Nobody has been able to replicate the orbs the same way, (again, that I know of).

As stated, nobody has been able to get the paint the same as the factory figures, so there's a big difference there.

The materials are also different. If you own enough Battle/Laser beasts, you'll easily be able to feel the difference between them.

There's a lot of eyes on the higher end laser beasts that if somebody did try to repro one and pass it off as legit, it would likely get spotted fairly quickly. And it's probably more work than it's worth to try and do that with the lower end Laser Beasts, (And even if you somehow did come across a repro lower that was being passed off as a legit, you wouldn't be out much money, assuming you couldn't get the money back for being frauded.)

Interests:BEASTFORMERS:
BB-LB-GBB-BDC-BS
Protecting, Defending & Preserving the original vintage line by TAKARA/HASBRO
(1986-1988)

Posted 22 April 2016 - 04:36 AM

We knew that a topic like this was going to show up someday because with the recent increase of repro stuff it´s no surprise that new collectors have concerns about purchasing certain figures/items and this is exactly the problem and concern I´ve been trying to express in several of the recent topics about those repro´s.

For me this topic shows that the community has failed in protecting the original line because we can´t ignore or refuse to see the concerns that new collectors have here. It´s easy to come up with the common lines here; they´re clearly different, impossible to match the orb, etc. All of which is true but that doesn´t mean that each and every new collector is, unlike Spiritcrusher, aware of this place out here for back up and up to date about which LB have been released in the original line. Some might think that the monotone colored LB are original items, or Greek versions of the LB, etc. So we can all take this lightly as some have done before but to me it feels like we´re slowly loosing a Battle here since this topic clearly shows that we´re solving the problems we can only blame ourselves for because we could´ve, and should have, prevented this in the first place imho.

Enough about this because my concern is clear...

@Spiritcrusher, everything can be reproduced as the recent period in which Clear Figures, Shields, etc. have been reproduced by people who´re trying to make profit out of the success/rareness of the original items by selling the reproductions for only a fraction of the price of the original piece, which is still more than enough for them to make a descent profit, and some of them don´t really seem to care about the harm these reproductions can do to the line resulting some are pretty hard to distinguish from the originals. A lot of fellow collectors who were not willing/able to pay the high prices for the original items out here didn´t care about this because for them it was a great outcome in order to get the piece they wanted for cheap. But as your concern shows this ¨positive¨ side of the reproductions also has a downside causing (new) collectors to become doubtful about whether or not the piece they´re buying is original. And sadly enough this is become more and more a valid concern because even though most of us out here are able to tell and verify the different when they´ve the figure in hand there´ll be only a fraction of them left when they´ve to judge the same figure based upon the pics alone, which is in most cases all we have before we buy the figure. So we can all say that the material feels different and that the paint is from a different quality etc. but that´s not the information that´ll help you out because that´s not something you can judge with enough certainty based on simple pics......

I don´t want to scare you here but those are details and concerns you´ve to become aware of as well in order not to risk getting burned buying a reproduction figure for the price of an original one.

But luckily as Grencats and Draz above already stated there´s still not to much to worry about when it comes to the original Laser Beasts because there´s to much details on these that´d make the reproduction of these pieces very tough. The orb (marble) in the chest is one of those details although these could be removed and reused from old beat up figures so that´s not a 100% guarantee either but the things that saves us here is the fact that like the original Battle Beasts there´s the combination of a base color figure with paint apps over it which are so detailed and precise that reproducing these would not be very interesting simply because of the time and costs that´d be involved and that´s not something the people who create these reproductions seem to like very much because all they want is to make a quick profit with the more easy to duplicate pieces like Clear figures, Shields and in some cases the Laser guns.

Although some of the members out here are pro-repro there´s also a group, including me, who´re anti-repro for the reasons mentioned above so this means that with almost every reproduction that does show up on the web there´s a new discussion meaning that there´s not a lot of reproductions within the BB line that pass by unnoticed.

For now, as long as you stay with the original LB and have a proper insight of which LB are actual original releases, there should be not a lot to worry about. This also goes for the laserguns in general because although there are reproductions out there the chances of them showing up have reduced quite a bit over the last years. When it comes to the shields and sleds though there´s still a bunch of reproductions out there and available but luckily we´ve managed to get those marked so on the Shields you´ll clearly find the stamp REPRO 2014 or 2015 on the back and on the Sleds you´ll find another marking, I believe it was a C, on the bottom of it to show its a reproduction. The exact markings you´ll find out here when you do a little searching. So those markings help us and hopefully fellow and new collectors like you not to get burned by overpaying for a non original item. I´m always trying to get each and every reproduction item marked or stamped with something that clearly shows the difference because that´s a simple little detail that would work well for all parties involved. Sadly enough not all of the reproduction people are willing to do this so this clearly shows they´re not out here to help people to get look a like items for less money but just to make profit and meanwhile they´re polluting and harming the original line resulting in concerns and doubts like you express.

Thanks for sharing your concern because I hope this´ll make some of my fellow collectors more aware of this problem that cannot longer be ignored.

Good luck with the hunt for Beasts and whenever you have doubts please feel free to ask here or via PM.

Enjoy the Beasts!

0

BEASTFORMERS ビーストフォーマー

Collector & Founder of the Beastformers Blog

For more info about the Beastformers Archaeology (-BA-) Project please click HERE

In case you might not be able to contact The White Rabbit via LRG for whatever reason use the contact options on the Beastformers Blog

A lot of fellow collectors who were not willing/able to pay the high prices for the original items out here didn´t care about this because for them it was a great outcome in order to get the piece they wanted for cheap.

Dude, don't shame people for what they spend on toys. That's probably my biggest gripe with your stance on all of this.

Interests:BEASTFORMERS:
BB-LB-GBB-BDC-BS
Protecting, Defending & Preserving the original vintage line by TAKARA/HASBRO
(1986-1988)

Posted 22 April 2016 - 07:24 AM

Dude, don't shame people for what they spend on toys. That's probably my biggest gripe with your stance on all of this.

You should´ve focused on the 2nd part of that line because you know I respect everyone out here and we all know that we all have our own budgets we are willing/able to spend on our toys so I´d never judge that BUT I do judge them when they buy the repro´s without giving a f#ck whether or not there´s a mark on them because in this topic it is now more than clear that a simple marking can help a lot of collectors to prevent them from getting burned. So I don´t grudge anyone but just make the point where I feel it is needed.

0

BEASTFORMERS ビーストフォーマー

Collector & Founder of the Beastformers Blog

For more info about the Beastformers Archaeology (-BA-) Project please click HERE

In case you might not be able to contact The White Rabbit via LRG for whatever reason use the contact options on the Beastformers Blog

First off, welcome to the forums. Some great collectors on here, most are very helpful and knowledgeable.

I have some custom rubber color changing laser beasts made from a guy on here but they are solid color orbs. Most of the time you have to jump on these customs cause the mold breaks and they are usually limited quantities. I honestly wish I could have a whole set of color changers. You won't see customs often, and if you do, it will more than likely be resin, not rubber. Plus most people with the higher value beasts are hesitant to send them to a customs guy in fear they'll be damaged. So you may be able to find the lower 12, but I doubt many others.

So my point is on the figures, you may get a mono colored custom if you're lucky, but that's it. There are no replica painted figures to my knowledge. As for the weapons, the couple sets that sold on ebay are floating around, but I haven't seen any for a long time. I don't think they'll be coming back anytime soon but who knows. It certainly would save you money, but if you're going to buy the figures and spend the money there, you may want to go ahead and spend the money to get the original weapons as well.

Good luck whichever direction you go, but like all collecting, it's addicting. So think it thru before you start up. From what I've seen, laser beasts are a long venture but worth it once you can display your set.

Having just purchased 4 of the 24 "Rare LBs" I can suggest one thing, buy from reputable people because they would not risk damaging their reputation by selling knock offs. That being said, me personally, there is NO CHANCE you can convince me that with the high quality of fake goods that are on the market right now, I would take the chance of buying a shield for $200. The figures themselves I agree with, would be tough to repo but for crying out loud there are fake eggs in China.

As for KOs, as long as the seller acknowledges that they are fake, that's fine in my book. I own an xbox with 1000 SNES games in it, would I pay $100 for the original version on Donkey Kong country, no. On the other hand I have never downloaded an MP3 because the price of CD's in reasonable and I appreciate owning the original.

With improvements in 3d printers I think the future of customs is bright and we just all need to keep things honest. If you want to buy a fake and you know its a fake, fine. If you have $5000 to spend on the originals go for it.

As one who has reproduced 3 Laser Beasts so far I have to agree that reproducing an LB orb would be difficult. Extracting one could easily damage the figure and/or the orb. I haven't bothered to remove them so they're the same color plastic as the figure.

That's a legit beast and weapon. To my knowledge, nobody has ever bothered to repro the "lower 12" weapons, and the only person I know who has repro'd any of the lower 12 was Eric Nilla here on the boards. He did Tiger Burn, (if more, please correct me!), and it was a mono coloured figure. Literally impossible to mistake as the real deal, with or without a makers mark.

So that's where my basis for that comes from.

As for the price? Like others have said, it's not an awful price, but it is on the higher end. Personally, I wouldn't pay that.

But I'm also the lucky dude who has got almost every single LB with their weapons for $15 or so Canadian.